Magnetic burr support



United States Patent a".

This invention relates to dental accessories; more particularly this invention relates to a dental burr holder which is adapted to be carried on the wrist of a dentist and support dental burrs within convenient reach for such dental Work as requires the use of burrs.

When in the practice of dentistry it is necessary to remove decayed portions from the teeth of a patient, the dentist is frequently required to use several burrs in the dental drill in rapid succession. That is because the burrs are obtainable with cutting edges in many different sizes and shapes, each type being best adapted for a specific purpose. The dentist may anticipate the needs of an individual case and preselect the different burrs, placing them upon his instrument table. However, even then they are relatively inconvenient when it is time to change burrs. At best the dentist must shift his position so that he can reach burrs lying on the instrument table. At worst he must walk nearly half way around the patient to reach burrs lying on the instrument table. As a result this entails a considerable amount of walking during the course of a days work. Since dentists spend substantially the whole day on their feet, eliminating any walking would be highly desirable.

Another factor is the amount of time it takes to change burrs. Even though it may take only a few seconds to walk around the patient and reach burrs lying on the instrument table, it must be realized that the patient is very uncomfortable and even a few seconds seem like a long time to the patient.

The prime object of this invention is to provide means whereby dental burrs may be kept close at hand, thereby reducing the time element involved in changing burrs.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sterilizable holder adapted to fit on the person of a dentist which will securely hold several dental burrs and enable the same to be readily attached and detached when needed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a magnetic holder of simple construction adapted to fit on the wrist of a dentist.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention will become more apparent as the description proceeds, reference being made from time to time to the accompanying drawing forming part of the within disclosure, in which drawing:

The sole figure is a perspective view of the burr holder embodying this invention and adapted to be worn on the wrist of a dentist using the same.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, it will be understood that in the embodiment herein disclosed, the reference character indicates the burr holder embodying the invention which is mounted on the wrist 12 of the dentists hand 14. In its general organization the burr holder 10 comprises a resilient metal base 16 curved to engage the wrist 12, and a permanent magnet 18 mounted in close proximity to one end of the base 16. Magnet 18 can be directly secured to the base, but in order to preserve the resiliency of base 16 it is preferable to 2,824,681 Patented Feb. 25, 1958 provide a pair of loops 20, 22 at the ends of magnet 18 and secure them to metallic brackets 24, 26. The brackets 24, 26 may be riveted to base 16. A degree'of resiliency in the brackets and, or alternatively in the connection of the brackets in the loops 20, '22 is desired. Thus the resilient base 16 can be readily attached to and detached from wrist 12; the'brackets 24, v26 accommodating .themselves to the spring-like action of base 16 occurring at attachment or detachment. To allow burr holder '10 to remain 'fixed'in position on the wrist 12, base 16 is provided with an elliptical shape and sufficient rigidity or stiffness to firmly seize the wrist.

As shown in the drawing, magnet 18 is preferably secured in close proximity to one end of base 16. It could, of course, be secured at the center of base 16, but by disposing it close to the end at one of the more sharply curved portions of the base, the magnet becomes advantageously disposed upon the side of the dentists wrist. Thus when the dentist wishes to change burrs, there is the object retaining magnet disposed on the side of his wrist where it can be most readily reached by the other hand.

The magnet 18 can be disposed in a plate which in turn is mounted on brackets 24, 26, or as shown the magnet can itself have loops 20, 22 secured thereto and be directly mounted .on brackets 24, 26. In either event it is attached so that the north-south magnetic poles are aligned (as shown on the drawing), crosswise of the wrist band 16. Also the magnet 18 is provided with a plurality of spaced apart-grooves or slots 28 which parallel each other as they ,extend across the magnet in general alignment with the lines of force between the north and south poles of magnet 18. Each groove is just wide enough to accommodate the underside of a conventional dental burr. Thus when a burr 30 is placed on magnet 18 it will align itself in one of the gro Ies 28. By virtue of this construction, it is not necessa o carefully place the burrs into position on the magni: The dentist need only put them on the surface and the magnet forces will align the burrs into the grooves on magnet 18.

Also it should be noticed that the width of magnet 18 is approximately equal to the length of dental burr 30. This feature-keeps the burrs from extending over the edge of the magnet (where they can be knocked off easily) and facilit tes automatic alignment of the burrs in the grooves 28."

If desired, permanent magnet 18 can be made of ordinary steel which, however, loses its magnetism and becomes Weaker in the course of time, particularly when used often and therefore requires recharging in order to restore its strength. For the purpose of avoiding the necessity for frequent recharging of the magnet, it is preferable to use in its construction a material which holds its magnetism for a long period of time, e. g. Alnico, which is an aluminum, nickel, cobalt alloy with the capacity of retaining its magnetism practically indefinitely and with a magnetic strength sufficiently high to hold the burrs firmly.

The all metallic construction of the burr holder is of special significance because of the necessity for sterilizing dental instruments. Thus the burr holder 10 can be repeatedly sterilized without doing damage to any of its component elements.

The embodiment of the dental burr holder illustrated and described is by way of example and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the exact details of construction of the various parts.

What is claimed is:

1. A dental accessory comprising a resilient, open ended wrist band of sufiicient rigidity curved in a wrist conforming generally elliptical shape with sharply curved 4 portions adjacent the ends thereof, whereby said band is south magnetic axis of magnet is disposed cross-wise of adapted to be mounted upon the wrist and to firmly set Said band, and the Width of Said magnet approximates the there by virtue of its resiliency with said sharply curved length of a dental bllfrportions disposed at the sides of the wrist; a pair of spaced apart brackets disposed at one of the sharply curved por- 5 References cued m the file of thls Pattent tions of said band; a magnet positioned between and'at- UNITED STATES PATENTS tached to said brackets and being thereby secured to said 2,464,068 Bear Man 8 1949 band, said magnet having grooves extending parallel to 2,715,990 Austin 23 1955 the north-south magnetic axis thereof, each groove being adapted to receive therein the underside of a dental burr, 10 FOREIGN PATENTS whereby when said band is mounted on the wrist, said 207,330 Great Britain Nov. 29, 1923 magnet is disposed on the side of the wrist. 372,566 Italy July 3, 1939 2. The dental accessory of claim 1 wherein the north- 1,024,588 France Jan. 10, 1953 

